Ben Settle

Since it’s that day that should be a Federal holiday but still ain’t (my birthday) today… I want to talk about something quite near & dear to my gruesome lil’ heart:

My next novel.

It is the 9th — and final — book of my Enoch Wars saga.

I started writing the books in August 2013.

And we will launch this last one next month in August 2023.

(So a clean 10-year journey.)

And if the feedback this final book in the series has been getting from the few who have read it are an indication, then it should be a big hit with fans of the series. I am already working on screenplays for them. And I have big plans to expand this into its own franchise — even if I have to somehow self-finance it all myself George Lucas-style.

In fact, here is what long time customer Daniel Throssell sent me about the 9th novel after I sent him an advanced copy:

Okay … I’m done.

Couldn’t help myself. Just had to finish it so I can focus and actually get back to my work.

My conclusion:

Magnificent.

Truly your crowning achievement in this entire series … and a fitting way to tie it all together.

I laughed out loud multiple times. I literally wept even more. I had my mind and theology challenged by ideas I had never heard before that have prompted me to study. And I was truly blown away by the delightful complexity of the plotline and how gripped I was the whole time.

I never would have thought that a book so full of sex, violence, gore, demons, foul language and so many other ‘evil’ things could be so edifying. Honestly. Not just as a fiction reader, but as a Christian, I felt convicted, challenged, and inspired by so many things in this book. And I find myself wanting to force all my brothers to read it too, to inspire them.

Anyway, thank you so much for letting me read this book. It really is your finest work. And I honestly feel like a better man for having read it.

My publisher Greg Perry (Oklahoma’s #1 used book dealer) said this:

“I just need to tell you how brilliant this is. How you took a series that seemed to be done and completely gave it an unexpected and glorious ending. . .A masterpiece Ben. SS is a masterpiece. It DEMANDS that I start back on book 1 as soon as things settle here. Which they might be about to do.”

And as for Stefania (who edited it)?

She’s biased of course.

But on her first reading, for enjoyment not editing, I remember falling asleep as she read the last three chapters and the epilogue. And an hour after I fell asleep she woke me up literally in tears. I think it was a truly surreal experience for her, as chapter 17 had her laughing thinking I’m the funniest guy in the world. Chapter 18 had her angry at me thinking I’m the biggest asshole in the world. Chapter 19 had her in deep thought for the next few days. And the epilogue still makes her equal parts sad and amped up with excitement whenever she thinks about it.

Which is interesting.

Because Daniel told me something similar about the ending:

Even 2 or 3 weeks after finishing it he couldn’t get the ending out of his head.

Like I told Greg when he finished reading it:

Writing is a rollercoaster.

So’s reading.

It should be, at least.

There is a copywriting lesson embedded in that.

I hope you caught it…

Anyway, fans of the other books will hopefully find it the best of the bunch. But for those who have not read it, and who are now curious, you can get the first 8 books on Amazon — print or kindle, with most of them on audio book (7 will be published on Audible shortly, with 8 on deck right after that).

One more thing:

A totally understandable and rational question people always ask when I launch a new title (especially since there are so many now) in the Enoch Wars series has always been:

“Do I need to read the ones before it to enjoy this next one?”

The answer is yes and no.

Yes, in the sense if you want to read the story as intended.

No, in the sense that you will figure things out as you go if you start with book 9. It stands on its own in many ways. And if I did my job right, it will make you want to go back and read the first 8 after. It’d be like watching Empire Strikes Back before watching Star Wars.

That’s my analogy.

And I’m sticking to it.

While back an “Email Players” subscriber asked about the client-copywriter dance.

The question basically went like this:

He had sent some copy to a client (while working on spec i.e., only gets paid if the ad is accepted, ran, and the client is honest…) The client wrote back with some suggestions. The copywriter fixed it according to said suggestions… and he hadn’t heard from the client in a while.

I don’t know for sure.

But it sounded like it’d been a long wait.

Almost like the client had either fallen off the face of the earth or took the copy (he got free) and now has no intention of paying the copywriter.

Which is what the question was about:

He was wondering if/when he should follow up.

Especially so he wouldn’t look Needy, etc.

My answer?

It’s the same answer I give to anyone anxiously waiting for something from someone — whether it’s a girl’s answer to a text, a boss’s reply to a request for a raise, or, yes, a client you’ve sent something to and are awaiting a reply for an unusually long period of time.

And here it is:

Whenever you feel this way, ask yourself:

“Isn’t there something better I could be doing?”

And then go do whatever the answer is.

Very simple.

And, surprisingly therapeutic, constructive, and efficient.

Anyway, this waste-of-time-and-talent dance with clients is one reason I hated dealing with them for the most part. Especially when money was tight, and I didn’t have a lot of time to be jerked around, and I was on a rampage to get things done.

Do whatever ye will with this info.

And then, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

And I found it quite profitable, too.

Here’s what happened:

Last year, I had read a book by Brian Timoney about Method Acting (he’s one of the best in the world at teaching Method, having even helped gotten actors into Hollywood movies, etc). And I wanted to use some of his ways to help me get better at being more in “touch” with my list, market, and even my enemies… so I could better know them, serve them, or (in the latter’s case) exploit them.

So here is what I did:

* I created a fake character/persona who is, in many ways, the exact opposite of me

* In this case, the character was a Latina (partly based on Stefania’s mom, not in personality, but in speaking tics and accent)

* This character I created is also a commie who’s obsessed with POC (people of color)

* Everything with this chick is “POC this” and “POC that”

* Far as she is concerned there are not enough POCs in Hollywood, in the world, and it’s obvious she has nothing but contempt for white people

* To her everyone who is white is a fascist and a racist

* So to her, the cure of this is America needs more POC, and diversity, with even the most inanely created movie & TV characters who are POC celebrated, and with even the most celebrated movie directors & movies like Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy being paragons of white supremacy, and chock-full of identity politics

* And so on, and so forth

Anyway, so what I did was this:

I went on a movie forum, as this character I created (not as Ben Settle, but as this character, with her own screen name, back story, etc), looked for the people on the site who are on Ben Settle’s “side” in politics, culture, and movie preferences, etc, and then… started picking fights with them.

Yes, I fought tooth & nail against my own ideological counterparts.

For instance:

I talked about how great Naru was in the latest Predator movie (Prey — which I hadn’t even seen, but in my mind I had) and how she was the greatest action movie star ever. Or how Sophia Nomvete (as the dwarf queen in Rings of Power — again, I had never even seen it, but in my head I had) was going to be the greatest actor in all the Lord of the Rings movies. And how She-Hulk was going to be the greatest TV show ever because it was finally featuring a POC (rationalizing that She-Hulk being green made her POC… I didn’t say any of this made sense).

And it was amusing at first.

But then something very startling happened:

I started to almost believe my own bull shyt!

I kid you not.

After doing this for just a few days I started spinning complete fantasies into facts that didn’t exist completely in service of this character I had created, because that is the only way a person like her could legitimately exist and not end up in the insane asylum.

Otherwise the cognitive dissonance would drive her insane.

Eventually, I was called out for just trolling and people caught on.

Specifically, when I said Warner Bros should recast Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck character in Joker 2 with a POC actor like Jaleel White (the character who played Erkel in Family Matters). I guess at that point it was so silly even the low IQ commies (most of the people on the site) knew I was full of it and just trolling them.

Which, interestingly enough, disappointed me.

Because I’d become quite fond of the character I played — despite her bat shyt opinions.

But here’s the thing to realize:

Stefania will tell you — she often sat next to me as I fooled around doing this in bed at night, on my laptop — I was having more fun being this fake character than being myself. I even started kinda talking like her, sympathizing with her ridiculous views and opinions and, in some ways… started becoming her.

Not in a “time to cut my balls off, and mainline estrogen” kind of way.

Although that probably would have scored me some sweet corporate endorsements.

But along the lines of Leonard Nimoy, when he talked about the years he played Spock in Star Trek. Five days a week he played that character, and the entire week he took on Spock’s personality at home, off set, including on weekends. And it wasn’t until Sunday night when he finally went back to being just Leonard, only to have to go back on set and do it all over again the next day.

He’d “become” that character, more than he was himself.

And that’s how it was with this short experiment I did with method acting.

Anyway, doing this was pure fun.

And it was also enormously useful for my email and infotainment skills.

The point?

The way I see it, if you want to be great — not just good — at entertainment, you have to literally become an entertainer.

And who better to learn from than great actors?

And, ideally, than doing what great actors do?

Learn and then apply to your emails for more sales, engagement, fun.

Next:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

The book I am currently reading is called:

“Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One”

It’s easily one of my all-time favorite bios so far.

I have been studying Limbaugh’s ways for years — and there is no doubt his method of persuasion was pure, unadulterated, and “uncut” infotainment.

His entire media empire was built upon it.

And his ability to sway elections and national discourse was based upon it.

When it comes to this skill, understand it ain’t just some bright shiny object. It’s a long, but distinguished way of using persuasive communication to get what you want from people — whether it’s a nation-wide audience, your email list, the affection of a woman you like, or, as smart politicians have learned… votes.

Take Ronald Reagan, for example.

Or as Rush called him:

“Ronaldus Magnus”

No president besides maybe Trump was as entertaining as Reagan.

This guy was almost supernaturally good at it.

Like, for example, when he was giving a speech and loud balloon popped, he paused without missing a beat and said, “missed me” then continued with his speech. Or when he was shot and wheeled into the hospital and he told the doctor he hoped he wasn’t a democrat, etc.

Guy was a true natural, with or without a script.

This included getting his way with hardcore democrats in congress.

Even the really nasty commie ones.

In fact, I once read a book about comedy writing (can’t remember the author or title) where it talked about how, psychologically and emotionally… it’s virtually impossible to be truly mad or angry with someone who is making you laugh.

Any man who is married knows this is true.

Want to thaw your woman out when she’s angry (justified or just in a bad mood)?

Make her laugh or even just smile.

The piano scene in the movie “Corpse Bride” very accurately depicts how this works when the guy tells the corpse he accidentally married (it’s a Tim Burton movie, what do you expect? Normalcy?) he can’t marry her and wouldn’t marry her, breaking her non-beating heart. As she pouts, he starts playing a piano tune next to her… which she loves… and she tries to stay mad at him… but can’t.

That’s just how it works.

Make people smile… and even your haters can’t really hate you.

That is, if they have a soul, at least.

Something certain haters & troll obviously don’t have.

So I ain’t talking about them, nor emotionally damaged types.

Context.

It was, of course, the same with Rush, too.

The book was written by a journalist who didn’t agree with a word Rush said about anything. Nor did any of his colleagues. But he noted how many journalists and people who hated Rush’s worldview still personally like the guy due to his entertaining ways.

All of which brings me to the punchline:

Email.

Lets you play the humor card, the entertainment card, the “smile” card all day.

If you know how to use it, at least.

More here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Here’s a story for you:

In the book “Backstory 2” (interviews with old timey screenwriters) there is a part that talks about how in the early days of the business, when Germany was being hammered by withering inflation there was one group of people who made it through those times more or less unscathed.

According to the book:

“Motion picture workers were unaffected because—and this was a great piquancy of the history of motion pictures (I hate to say it, but that’s the way it was)—the worse the economy became, the better it was for motion picture people. Those without jobs hated staying home and listening to their wives complaining, so they went to motion pictures.”

This was true in America too during the Great Depression.

Rich people loved their entertainment.

And broke people needed to self-medicate.

The way both got what they wanted:

The movies.

Which provided… entertainment.

People have historically always paid for entertainment.

Entertainment keeps people sane.

Probably even keeps them from committing crimes, in some cases.

And, can even give them hope to hold on to during dark times.

Combine that entertainment with information — truly useful and relevant that solves their problems — and you almost can’t lose up in this business in my humble, but accurate, opinion.

With the shyt storm coming on the horizon now it’ll be even more potent.

And I predict the few businesses that truly get how to use and harness Infotainment — and not just talk about it, but know how to do it, and rarely do the two meet — will have not only a much easier time weathering the storm… but be doing their market, customers, clients a true service — mentally and emotionally — that goes way beyond just “give value.”

This includes in your marketing itself.

Everything can and should be infotainment.

Not just your emails, but your sales copy, your content, your offers, and even your customer service and at every other point your customers or clients interact with your business directly or indirectly.

Think long and hard about this.

Especially as Clown World continues to destroy the economy.

It could save your business…

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

When I say orc, I am talking about online trolls.

The way social media, anon posting, etc has grown, you almost have more trolls than normal people roaming the internet at this point. And this is especially the case if you have any kind of presence. If you don’t deal with them now, you will, and it’s just a matter of time.

Some of them are extremely nasty too.

If you’re lucky they’ll merely slander or flame you.

But more and more… and this especially true of political trolls… the favored method of choice is becoming to dox, swat, cancel, or, in some cases… even try to kill you or your family.

The best course of action is to usually ignore them.

The troll pathology is as such where they need to feed.

And if you don’t feed them (with your attention) they eventually move on.

But, in some cases, ignoring ain’t enough. And, yes, police reports have to be filed. Those are the extreme ones of course and a small minority of trolls. And you’re better off talking to a lawyer or your local police about them.

But the rest?

The 80+ percent of trolls?

The ones who are otherwise harmless & toothless?

Why, they were put on this earth for your business to profit from, in my opinion.

My motto is never to look a gift troll in the mouth.

One ankle-biting troll, for example, has resulted in a huge uptick in new BerserkerMail clients after blatantly lying about us on social media last year — not just in direct sales (gave me a whole week’s worth of email fodder to promote the platform)… but one of the emails I wrote dispelling this dork’s lies about us led directly to being invited to speak to the great Brian Kurtz’s mastermind not long after (which has led to multiple new Email Players, BerserkerMail, and other customers)… and, most recently, turned into an idea for an entire course we’ll be selling, that can lead to many more BerserkerMail clients over time, not to mention more sales, more influence, more affiliates wanting to work with us (which can lead to a ho’ bunch more sales, influence, etc), and more engagement with the platform.

Trolls are truly a gift if you know how to exploit their low IQ attacks.

And the worst thing you can do is try to make friends with them or get them to “like” you.

They won’t.

I would argue they can’t, even if they wanted to.

After all, they don’t even like themselves.

If they did, they’d focus on their own businesses instead of trolling.

The pathology of the troll is something I’ll be going deep into next year, as I have been coming up with all kinds of new ways (beyond even the ways I teach in my Copy Troll book) and using them to make all kinds of new sales for your business.

In the meantime, realize this:

The age of the troll is a boon if you know what you’re doing.

And, one reason they’re so useful is:

Email.

Publicly spanking trolls, profiting from trolls, mocking trolls in email… can be pure fun for you.

And it’s also good sport for your list.

Plus, it’s good business for your accountant and banker.

I have lost track of all the sales — direct and indirect — I’ve made from these idiots.

All right enough.

More here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Following is admittedly a hair-raising idea for freelancers and for clients who hire them.

Most will never do it.

I’d have been too chicken to do it myself in my early freelance days when I didn’t have a pot to pizz in or a window to throw it out.

But, I’m gonna share it anyway.

Here goes:

I was reading a book called Backstory 2 (interviews with old timey day screenwriters) a few months ago, and one of the interviews (with screenwriter Stewart Stern) talked about how Marlon Brando — often considered the single best method actor who ever lived — once started arguing with the screenwriter over a scene.

Originally, Brando approved the scene.

Then, suddenly, he hated and despised it.

The screenwriter tried calling Brando out about having approved it:

“We worked on this. You said it was great and everything had been cured.”

To which Brando replied:

“Well, it hasn’t. I looked at it again and it doesn’t work.”

And then Brando started challenging Stern:

“[Brando] would stand up in his dressing-room trailer and glare right into my eyes and demand to know what the Communists were doing up on the northern border. Challenge me to respond. Force me to be the prime minister [character in the scene]. He was saying things like [in a loud, enraged shout] ‘I don’t care if I approved this scene before — I PISS ON IT!” And he would throw the script across the trailer. Then I would pick it up and throw it back. The heat of it, the emotion of it, got us both screaming at each other. One or two very good lines passed our lips in the course of this that we then sat down and talked about. I wish I could remember the specifics of it. But something was generated in me that ideas began to come, that I felt this flush of emotion. . .that I had to write down. So, I went back and wrote a new scene—really a brand-new scene and brought it to him.”

The result?

The new scene hit it right out of the park.

And the next day Brando laughed saying it was good to see Stern fight for how much it meant to him, and praised him etc.

I don’t know about you.

But I find this sort of thing extremely fascinating.

In fact, I sent the above to Brian Timoney (who is a world renown Method Acting actor, instructor, & author) and he said:

You gotta love Marlon. Very method approach. I’ve used this myself in class with students. With the right person at the right time, it can produce results they didn’t think they had in them. They forget themselves and stop trying to be polite and just do it.

What Marlon did was use a provocation technique. It was first established by a guy called Eugene Vakhtangov, a Russian at the Moscow Arts Theatre. . .He believed that you needed to provoke the inner psyche of the actor. He once told an actress he was directing before she went on stage that she was too plain looking to play the part, which of course, made her furious, and she went on stage and blew it away.

Immoral of the story?

If I was a copywriter or client, I’d be asking myself:

1. How much crap copy has been written because a client didn’t challenge the copywriter like this?

2. And how many crap products have been sold because a copywriter didn’t challenge the client’s weak product like this?

We’ll never know.

But copywriters who don’t do this to weak products ain’t doing their job.

And clients who don’t challenge their copywriters like this ain’t doing their job.

There is much you can learn from the old school method actors.

Something to think on.

In the meantime?

Go here next:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Recently on Twitter a guy named Billboard Chris posted:

It’s up to Gen-X to win the culture war.

We’re still in the workforce, and coming into dominant positions politically.

We’re the last link of humanity who grew up with life before the internet. We’ve lived through more change than any generation in mankind’s history, and we can see what’s happening to society with the proper perspective.

I hope we get some more Gen-X fighters in the arena.

I don’t know about that.

I’m GenX through-and-through.

And I think I speak on behalf of many in my obnoxiously apathetic generation when I say it’s doubtful GenX will win any culture wars. And I also believe that what Stephen (the insane Irishman in the movie Braveheart) tells William Wallace — as they’re hiding under their small wooden shields from hundreds of arrows raining down, with their friends’ eyeballs, butts, testicles, and skulls being pierced on both sides of them — sums up a lot of our attitude best:

“The Lord tells me he get me out of this mess. But He’s pretty sure you’re fooked.”

That’s certainly my attitude when Millennials & Zoomers ask my opinions on culture.

They’re on their own far as I’m concerned.

Especially the ones naive enough to still live in big American cities.

And there’s a reason I moved 300+ miles from any big city to a totally homogeneous small town.

Those not following suit will find all this out the hard way.

Especially if they are in the marketing bid’niz and still do silly nonsense like rely on one platform (Twitter, Facebook, whatever), hide behind cartoon avatars building someone else’s brand instead of their own, and chase algorithms & bright shiny objects instead of focusing on the basics:

Build list, mail it daily, mail those buyers something else.

It’s not all apathy over here though.

I still want to help my customers.

Specifically, my Email Players subscribers..

Which is why many have noticed that this year I’ve been especially aggressive about overdelivering (or, as one guy put it: overwhelming) in sheer volume, with double sized issues, extra-sized issues, etc. Because far as I’m concerned this year, and especially 2024-2025, are going to be nothing short of insane.

If you don’t have your shyt together – business & personal – by then, you’re fooked.

Nobody wants to hear that while fapping to their false gods like fapGPT, crypto currency, etc.

But that makes it no less true.

It’s not all doom & gloom though.

Not if you know what you’re doing.

Especially with email.

More on that here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

A timely question:

Yooo, Ben. Hope you are doing well. I wanted to ask you something and it’s like seriously bothering me. English is my second language and I have been studying copywriting for over a year now. But whenever I write, it always feels like I am short of words. It’s like I lack the wordplay that great writers have. It’s bland like chatgpt. I don’t know if that can be improved and if it can be. Then how?

First, it’s good he recognizes how bland fapGPT-created emails are.

Watching copywriters get morning wood over fapGPT is as amusing as it is astonishing.

Second:

If your writing is bland that’s not a writing problem that’s a “you” problem.

Meaning:

You’re probably not pouring “you” into it at all. It should be 100% you — not only the way you talk in real life to people but, if you want to take it even farther… your thought patterns. I invented a term for this that I wrote about in the February Email Players issue I call:

“Greasy voice writing”

So not only writing like you talk.

But also writing as you think.

i.e., your unique, peculiar thought patterns.

However words appear in your mind that’s how they appear on paper.

(Or on the screen, whatever)

They will be flawed, imperfect, full of adverbs (I love adverbs), passive voice, run-on sentences, and a whole bunch of other things that’ll drive writing snobs batty. But nobody should care what broke writing snobs think — only what works.

Try that and see what happens to your writing.

For more email writing and copywriting go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle